Signal Box Theatre, York. Thu 10 Dec – Sun 24 Jan 2016. Reviewed by Marcus Richardson
Dick Whittington and his (meer)cat, was my first ever pantomime and I’m glad that I went to see this one; the performance itself was funny and suitable for all ages. A praise must go out to Berwick Kaler once again playing the dame. I found the acting style very strange at first, with them popping in and out of character; talking to the audience made the performance so much funnier. They used the signal box theatre to their advantage, with the rail track in the middle and an audience on two sides which made space for a ‘they’re behind you’ joke.
The theatre was due to open before the release of dick Whittington however due to archaeological finds the opening date has been pushed back to the 22nd of April 2016, Kaler made sure that that he fit in a joke about being at the Signal Box Theatre.
Martin Barrass played Willy Polony and Mayor Cheapskate, both characters were very melodramatic. The character of Willy made me laugh so much, with jokes about an actor not being a real job and a hilarious seal outfit which lead to him falling over and everyone in the audience laughing. Kaler played Paloma Polony, who had more extravagant dresses than you can count each relevant to the scene. There were lots of jokes about Kaler forgetting his lines, this was addressed in the scene when a customer kept forgetting his lines and upon finally saying it he got a applause from the audience. However David Leonard who played the villainous Herman Vermin stood out for me, with a complex song about listing all the places he had been in the world they even made a joke about it by trying to get the audience to sing along to it at the end; he played the character very well creating humour and hatred towards the character. I found that a scene where he started laughing and then a loud evil laugh came up on the speakers and as a result he jumped out of fear.
They had included new song like Bruno Mars’ Uptown Funk and Lilly Allen’s LDN, they adapted the songs to suit the scene, LDN was used when the audience first see London, this was performed by Charlotte Cheapskate (Suzy Cooper) they made the song much more light hearted and fun. Herman’s song Hallelujah Herman was an adaptation of Hard Rock Hallelujah by Lordi which won them Eurovision. This song was fitting for the character and made for a great entrance for such a villain.
They used amazing puppets in an underwater scene, this was one of my most favourite parts as they had fish, a whale and marvellous octopus which was gigantic and has several people on the verticals. The smaller fish puppets had a dance sequence, the music here was a mix of several songs; they were bopping up and down and swaying from side to side. They use a see through curtain and lighting to creating a simple underwater effect which also concealed the actors which made the scene more immersive
Overall the performance was amazing and lived up the prestigious name that it has earned over the years, it is suitable for all ages and will make anyone laugh. I found myself sing along to some songs as everyone knew at least one song. The acting style was bizarre at first but then it became hilarious with the addition, of the cast talking to the audience. At the bows Kaler came on a small train, and he broke which made everyone laugh including most of the cast. An Excellent Performance once again by York Theatre Royal.